Major Henry Meintjes, MC, AFC

Henry Meintjes was born on 25 December 1892 in Colesberg, Cape
Province, South Africa. As a youth, he studied at St. Andrew’s
College, Grahamstown. From a transcript of the College
Register, he had an older brother, Clarence, and another brother
Stephen Murray who died young in 1907. Given that Henry and
Stephen’s school registration numbers were one apart, there is a
chance the two were the same age and, perhaps, twins.

At the start of the Great War, he served with South Africa’s 14th
Dismounted Rifles, which fought in German South-West Africa. In
November 1915, he went to England to join the Royal Flying Corps.

On 6 May 1916, after completion of flying training at Thetford,
2Lt Meintjes was assigned to No. 60 Squadron at Gosport as part of
its initial cadre of Flying Officers, along with fellow South
African D.V. Armstrong. Of note, South African E.J.L.W. Gilchrist, future
Officer Commanding of 56 Squadron, also flew
with Meintjes in the early days of 60 Squadron. That May, the
squadron deployed to France; in July, the Battle of the Somme began. Meintjes would fly the Morane Bullet monoplane and then the Nieuport
Scout. Though one of the few that could manage the
difficult-to-fly Bullet,
it was with the Scout that Meintjes had his
success, scoring four victories. By December, he was promoted
to Temporary Captain and appointed Flight Commander. In the 60
Squadron recommendation for the Military Cross and several other
letters, his “excellent record of pluck, determination and good
judgement” was highlighted. In February 1917, when it was time for
Meintjes to return to Home Establishment, the Officer Commanding No.
60 Squadron wrote several letters extolling Captain Meintjes’
virtues as a Flight Commander, first arguing that he should just be
given extended leave so he could return to the squadron. This
was not to be; on 22 February 1917, Meintjes was posted to the No. 1
School of Aerial Gunnery. In the
history of No. 60 Squadron
written by Group-Captain A. J. L. Scott, Meintjes was described as
“one of the best pilots, and almost the most popular officer, 60
ever had.” On the Rugby field Meintjes was “a tower of
strength at full back.”

In March 1917, Capt Meintjes was posted to No. 56 Squadron as one
of its Flight Commanders, likely at the request of his ex-60
Squadron mate, Albert Ball. When the Squadron was tasked to deploy
to France, he led the advance party, departing England 3 April.
He scored another 4 victories with No. 56, the last two
occurring on 7 May 1917 when he was seriously wounded in the wrist;
the same day Captain Albert Ball was killed. In
Scarlet and
Khaki, the autobiography of T.B. Marson, the 56 Squadron Recording
Officer, he writes about the “phlegmatic” Meintjes:

“A fine pilot – you cannot keep him out of the air – he came to
us from No. 60 Squadron, and was a tower of strength. Nothing
escaped him, and nothing worried him. Although hit in the wrist a
long way over the lines, and despite the loss of much blood – the
cockpit was like a shambles – he brought the machine back and made a
perfect landing on our side of the lines [near Sains-en-Gohelle],
and then fainted away. Trust Meintjes not to faint till his job was
done.”

After many months in the hospital, Captain Meintjes was posted to
the Central Flying School 25 July 1918, where he would be promoted
to Acting Major. He would receive the Air Force Cross for his
efforts at the School. On 2 May 1919 he was assigned to the
Southern Aeroplane Repair Depots at Farnborough, where he was
appointed as Officer in Charge of the Aerodrome. On 14 June
1919, he was transferred to the RAF unemployed list.

Returning to South Africa, he became Manager and Chief Pilot to
Handley Page South African Transports, Ltd., from 1919 until 1921.
In 1922 Major Meintjes entered the South African Air Force. There he
“had a roving commission … flying from base to base organising.” In
1928, he supported Lady Mary Bailey’s historic solo return flight
between Croydon, UK, and Cape Town, South Africa, by delivering a
D.H. "Moth" to replace one that was severely damaged on the way to
Cape Town (Flight
Magazine, 10 January 1929) .
On 4 March 1931, he transferred to the South African
Police, where he was appointed Chief Inspector. After retiring from the police, he became the proprietor of the
Kensington Bottle Store in Johannesburg. A member of the
Pretoria Country Club, he enjoyed tennis, fishing, shooting and
gardening. He passed away 2 June 1949, only days after the
passing of his older brother Clarence on 25 May.

London Gazette Entries

The undermentioned Second Lieutenants, South African
Defence Force, to be temporary Second Lieutenants: —Dated
8th November, 1915.H. Meintjes..(SUPPLEMENT TO THE
LONDON GAZETTE, 15 MARCH, 1916. p2902)

- Several entries in Rootsweb, including
one by Heather MacAlister, who
provided transcripts from “Personalities in South African Motoring
and Aviation”, published by The Knox Printing and Publishing
Company, Durban, 1941 and the St Andrew’s College Register